


Hail Hydra

by alexthelioness



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Bombs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Redemption, Team, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:52:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3676368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexthelioness/pseuds/alexthelioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team is captured and its up to Skye whether they live or die. Post Winter Soldier</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hail Hydra

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is my first fic, ever, like ever to be written. I hope you guys enjoy the story :)

The room was dark and musty. As she woke, Skye began to see the meager decorations around the room: the one dim lightbulb in the middle, the dusty pink bed in the corner, and a tiny little stool accompanied by an equally as tiny desk. She scanned the room as she propped herself up. One thing was for certain. She was alone.

She moved along the walls, feeling for the telltale crack of a door. First sweep revealed nothing, no door. No secret compartments. Nothing. After searching a second time, Skye became aware of a pounding in her head. She had been hit hard in the back of the head, most likely from the butt of a gun. She sat on the creaky bed and tried to think back to how she had gotten here.

The team had been at an obscure airstrip, refueling and getting some much needed supplies. Coulson had planned a rendezvous with some contacts to learn about recent movements of Hydra and had left May with Skye and Fitzsimmons on the Bus, taking Ward with him for "insurance." It was a routine pitstop and so they had no reason to be hypervigilant. Skye was in her bunk, cracking the newest assignment Coulson had given her when she heard a shriek. Simmons She thought as she threw off her laptop and grabbed the gun on her nightstand. She rushed down the stairs to the lab. She slowed her approach as she got closer, taking a deep breath as she turned the corner.

When Skye turned the corner, she made a small squeak. The lab doors were littered with bullets and were forced open. Inside Fitz was lying still on the floor and Simmons... Skye's heart raced as she spotted Simmons. She was held upright by a man in black, whimpering slightly as he pressed the muzzle of a pistol to her head.

"Drop the gun!" He shouted, pressing the pistol further into Jemma's temple, "Or else."

Simmons gave a little whimper and focused her gaze on Skye. She was scared, but determined. Skye caught her eye, and could see the fire in the girls eyes. She raised her eyebrow, silently asking if Jemma if she was alright. The girl nodded almost imperceptably. She was alright, but there was no way she was going down without a fight.

"What do you want?" Skye asked with a steady voice. There was no way she was going to let him know she was scared.

"The rest of your team as been neutralized. Lower your weapon and come peacefully."

"Like hell thats going to happen."

Skye could hear shuffling behind her, the rest of the man's team presumably.

"What do you want?" She repeated, narrowing her gaze onto the man with the gun.

With a smile he lowered the gun and released Simmons replying in a calm clear voice, "You."

After that all she could remember was waking up. The ringing in her head had subsided, and she could finally hear her own thoughts again. What the hell is this place? Where am I? Suddenly a horrible thought popped into her head,What happened to the team? The man with the gun had said the rest of the team had been neutralized, and Fitz had been lying still on the floor of the lab. Too still. She pushed the image of a dead fitz out of her head as she heard a lock click behind her.

She jumped and turned around, ready to fight whoever came in. The wall behind her opened, and light flooded the room. Skye braced herself for a fight as a silhouette appeared. Her muscles tensed as she prepared to jump when the person stepped in. It was Ward. She breathed a sigh of relief and the door closed tight behind him, sealing them in together. She dropped her hands and ran to go hug him. He grunted as she slammed into him. She held him tight for a while before she remembered the danger they were in. She stepped back and looked up at him.

"What happened? Where are we? Who are these people? Where's the rest of the team?" She couldn't hold herself back from the flood of questions. Ward silently motioned for her to sit on the bed. They walked over and Skye got comfortable. She could feel her heart tighten as Ward began to tell his story.

Coulson and Ward had made it to the rendezvous point and were waiting for their contact, but as it turns out, Hydra was waiting for them. They jumped them as soon as we got there. Coulson was able to take out a few before they got him down, Ward a few more. They brought them to the bus first. Simmons was scared but alive. May was battered and beaten and semiconscious.

"I saw they had strewn you and fitz on the ramp, just lying there. I thought you guys were dead."

After they had taken the rest of the team, they were blindfolded and shoved in a car and taken to wherever they were now.

"All they want is you. Something about Rising Tide connections and your hacking ability. They want you to hack the Shield servers for Hydra." Ward warned, "They only want us for incentive. Skye, you need to give them what they want. Otherwise..."

Ward trailed off, fear radiated in his eyes. He wasn't scared for himself, but for Fitzsimmons and the rest of the team.

Skye grabbed his hadn and squeezed it, "Ward, I can't do that. I may have been an agent for only a day but my loyalties are to Shield. I can't do that."

"They'll do whatever it takes! They'll hurt you! Kill the team! Is that really what you want?"

Her heart ached at the thought of her team lying dead, all because of her, but she knew she had to keep up her resolve, "I'm loyal to Shield. I can't do it."

Ward took a deep breath and stood up, "I was hoping you wouldnt say that." He turned to the wall where he entered, "We're going to need to go to plan B. She's not going to make this easy."

Skye looked up at Ward, "We? Who's we?"

Ward turned his head and gave Skye an evil smirk, "Hail Hydra."


	2. Fitz

It had been hours since Ward had dropped his facade and revealed his true treacherous self. Skye was still in the same position she was in when Ward left. She went through the last few months in her head, Simmons and the alien virus, Coulson being taken by Centipede, Quinn shooting her. He had been there for all of that. He fought for all of them. A Hydra Agent wouldn't of fought so hard. It didn't make any sense. We were just his mission. His orders were to get us to trust him. She thought sadly, He didn't really care about us. She desperately wanted this whole ordeal to be a dream. No, a nightmare. A very realistic nightmare. She had no idea how much worse it could get.

Finally Skye heard the wall move as the door opened once again. She sprung into action, ready to fight off her attackers. She kicked high and punched hard, but it only succeeded in making her kidnappers mad. One pulled her roughly by her hair while two others slapped restraints on her wrists behind her. Once theyhad her secured, they called for a General Barned outside the door to enter. Another man walked in, Skye assumed he was the General, the one calling the shots.

"Are you ready to comply?" His voice was cold and sharp, Skye winced before responding,

"Bite me." The General smiled, as though he expected that to be her answer.

"Against my better judgement, I'm giving you one last opportunity to help me achieve what I need willingly. Should you choose to comply, you would be sure to be rewarded. Failure to comply...well lets hope we don't get to that."

"Bite. Me." Skye replied slowly, looking straight into his jet black eyes.

"Very well. You will be taught about what happens to those who don't comply."

The guards dragged her kicking and screaming out of the room and into the hall. Outside, Ward stood watching the scene with a bemused look in his eye. As soon as she was dragged close enough, Skye took the opportunity to give him a death glare and spit in his face. She was immediately rewarded with a burst pain on her cheek as one of the guards slapped her.

"You should behave," Grant said, "This isn't even the best part."

They dragged her into another room, this one larger and well lit, with several doors leading out into other corridors. In the middle there sat a shiny metal table with a large chair on its right. The table was strewn with an assortment of medical tools, none of which Skye could really recognize. She expected to be led to chair, to prepare the unavoidable torture they were about to put her through. To her surprise they led her toward the wall parallel to the chair. They attached her restraints to a little chain link attached to the wall and forced her to her knees. Skye allowed herself to relax as she tried to guess what exactly the guards were going to do to her as they disappeared into one of the doorways.

"Now what? Last I checked, moving people from one room to another wasn't exactly an effective way of getting people to comply." General Barnes smirked and moved closer to Skye.

"You have no idea what is going to happen do you?" He took another few steps forward, "You still believe you can walk out of someone can come save you." the General's face was less than an inch away from her face, Skye could smell his aftershave. "You're wrong."

The guards came barreling back into the room.

"Let me go you neanderthals!" Skye recognized the voice of her favorite engineer. She allowed herself a moment to embrace the relief that Fitz was alive, before she began to connect the pieces. No, they wouldn't

General Barnes smiled when he saw the panic that crossed over Skye's face as she realized what they were going to do.

"Being as talented as you are, none of our hackers have been able to crack the security protocol you created protecting your teams intel. You seem to be the only one who can get in. Since you won't help willingly, its been decided that we find a little...incentive... for you. One by one, your team will suffer if you don't comply -"

"DON'T DO IT SKYE! WE CAN HANDLE IT! DON'T GIVE THEM WHA-" A swift punch to the gut left Fitz gasping for air, effectively cutting off his interruption. Skye struggle against her restraints. Her anger rising as she saw Fitz in pain. General Barnes nodded to the guards to continue. Skye screamed as the guards began hurling punches and kicks at the poor engineer. Before long, Fitz gave a little moan as he succumbed to his pain and fell unconscious. Skye turned to look at Ward, to her surprise, he looked uncomfortable with how badly Fitz was beaten. The look only lasted a moment, but it gave Skye hope. Maybe he does care about us. Just a little. Maybe he will come to his senses.

A flood of tears fell down Skye's cheeks as she struggled against her bonds to try to reach Fitz. She sobbed as the guards untied him from the chair and dragged his still body from the room. What am I going to tell Simmons? She thought, I just let them beat her partner within inches of death. The guards were backk, but they were there for Skye this time. They unhooked her from the wall and walked her, defeated but alive back to her cell. She managed to look Ward in the eye as she passed him. She wanted him to know she was not broken. Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Fitz, will he survive? How will Skye deal with all of this? And Ward?


	3. Simmons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things continue to go downhill as General Barnes brings in somebody else to torture Skye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated, it's been a crazy couple months but I will be updating, and finishing this story today. Without further ado I will leave you to the story.

When the guards came for her the next time, she did not fight. She held her head high and marched out the door and back into the large room. They chained her to the same wall and sat her down roughly. The guards then left again. This time it was only General Barnes keeping her company.

"What happened? Ward still queasy from seeing his best friend beaten?" She sneered, hate filling her voice. The General didn't answer, rather he walked to the table and began arranging the tools, from smallest to largest. The largest resembling some sort of kitchen knife.

"You still have a chance to save you and your friends. You just need to let us in. Do that, and this whole ordeal will be over. Promise." He held his hands up in surrender, as a gesture of good will.

"Like I'll believe you wont kill us as soon as I give you the hack. I know how this works." She replied, keeping her eyes trained on the door through which the guards left. She was terrified of what, or who, they would bring through the door.

"If it were up to me, I would've killed you the moment you refused." Skye turned her focus back on the General, confused,

"What stopped you? Would've saved you a lot of time."

"Ward." Her eyes narrowed at the mention of her former SO's name, "He believes that you can be an asset to this organization, that your skills were wasted working for 'good guys.' He believes he can convince you to turn your back on Shield and join Hydra." Skye laughed for a moment.

"Well then you're really wasting your time. Nobody can make me turn my back on my team. Especially not Ward." The General was about to speak when the guards burst back in the room. Strung between the two of them, dragging her feet and trying her hardest to break free of the goons was a small british girl.

"Simmons!" Skye breathed. The guards managed to sit her down and restrain her properly, with her forearms facing out and her back straight against the back of the chair.

"Skye, listen to me. Don't do what they ask, I can deal with whatever. You need to stay strong. Maria and Tripp will find us. Just keep fi-" One swift slap silenced her friend's speech. General Barnes looked over at the girl sadly,

"I was raised as a gentleman, and as a gentleman I say its rude to hit a lady, especially one so pretty as yourself Agent Simmons. Now if you would let me continue," The General began to toy with the instruments on the table, running his fingers over all the sharp edges, a giant smile filling his face, "I told you, one-by-one, your team would suffer. But you still refuse. You have one chance before Agents Simmons begins to feel my anger."

Skye bit her lip to keep herself from cursing at him. She remained silent, eyes trained on Jemma, giving her support. The General sighed at Skye's silence and continued.

"As I said, its rude to hit a lady, so rather instead of brute force, we'll try something different." He picked up a small scalpel and inspected it in the light, "This will do nicely."As he approached, Simmons found herself trying to lean away from the bastard, only to be stopped by the restrains around her arms and chest. Skye tried once again to pull against her chains as the General made two swift cuts to Jemma's cheeks, then inserted the blade into Jemma's forearm.

"Stop! Please don't hurt her!" Skye screamed, as she saw the blood begin to ooze out of the incisions. Jemma bit her lip to keep from crying out, tears filled her eyes.

"This can stop as soon as you agree to comply."

He moved to the other side and began to make another incision on Jemma's other forearm. Jemma couldn't stop the tears the flowed down her cheek, the salt water burning the cuts to her face. She refused to make a sound and give the madman the satisfaction of her pain. The General went back to the table and looked over his instruments, glee filling his face as though he was a child in a candyshop. He picked up a paricularly gnarly instrument that resembled a corkscrew. He returned to the chair and grabbed Simmon's wrist to steady it. He placed the point into her palm and began to turn the instrument, digging it further into her hand. A groan of pain erupted from Jemma's throat, but she refused to scream. The instrument was half in. Skye continued to scream for him to stop, but the General just ignored her and continued twisting the top. Tears streamed down the girls faces. The corkscrew finally made it through to the other side of Jemma's hand. Skye was impressed Simmons hadn't screamed the whole time.

Suddenly something caught Jemma's eye. Hate filled her eyes and her brows furrowed with anger. Skye turned to see Ward had entered the room. She hadn't noticed his entrance, she had been too focused on the corkscrew in Jemma's hand.

"Nice to see you could finally join us Agent Ward. We were just getting started."

Skye studied Ward's face for any sign of discomfort or disgust with the scene before him, but to her disappointment there was no emotion in those dark eyes. The General had gone back to the table and picked up the kitchen knife. Without warning he turned around and stabbed it into Jemma's thigh. Jemma gave out a horrible scream. Out of the corner of her eye, Skye could see that Ward had flinched at the sound. The General smiled, pleased that he was finally able to get the young agent to illicit a reaction.

Simmon's was covered in blood, it leaked from every cut the General had made, and the loss of blood was starting to show. Skye saw Jemma's head began to drop, her face pale and sweaty.

"Jemma! Stay with me! Please stay with me!" She watched as her best friend lapsed into unconsciousness, her body relaxing against her bonds.

"Simmons!" She screamed, "Please help her! Please! Please!" she pulled at her chains, desperate to reach her dying friend. She searched frantically for Ward. He wont let her die. He still cares. He was nowhere to be seen.

After what seemed like hours, the guards removed the instruments from Jemma's body and untied her from the chair. As the ropes were removed, her body fell forward, caught by one of the guards. As they carried her out, Skye searched the girl for any sign of life, anything to show that she was still there. There was nothing. The General received a call on his phone and soon rushed out, leaving her alone in the room. She stared at the pool of blood that had accumulated below the chair.

Jemma's dead. She thought as she stared into the blood, Jemma's dead and its all my fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who cannot wait, I have the whole story posted on FanFiction.net under the same title.


	4. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following a terrifying dream, Skye gets a surprise visitor. What does it mean for her and her team?

_All she could see was blood. it was all over her hands, and her clothes. Skye could feel the blood run down her skin. No matter what she did, she couldn't wash the blood off her body. Jemma's blood. It coated her like paint, making her skin sticky and red. She could see Ward before her, his face stoic and emotionless. His voice hollow and unforgiving,_ _**This is your fault. You killed Jemma.** _ _Skye tried to speak, to explain, but no words came to her._

_Next to Ward another figure appeared. Fitz. His body black and blue._ _**This is all because of you** _ _. His face resemebled Ward's, in that it held no emotion._ _**This is your fault. You killed Jemma** _ _. She reached out, trying to get him to understand. Trying to explain the situation._ **_I was protecting the team! You understood that! Jemma understood that! I never imagined they would kill her!_ ** _She tried to say, her hands went right through Fitz. He remained silent and unmoving._

_Coulson appeared to the left of Fitz. He looked the same as when he left for the rendevous._ _ **It's all your fault. You killed Jemma.**_ _She could feel tears on her cheek, as she tried to reason with Coulson,_   _ **I was doing it for the team, to protect what little we have!**  _ _she tried to explain,_ _ **I didn't want to betray you,** again, _ _ **This is your fault. You killed Jemma.**_

_Skye spun around. May stood there, her gaze ever so cold and penetrating._ _**This is your fault. You killed Jemma.** _ _she repeated. Skye was sobbing now, her lungs struggling to catch a breath between each sob._ _It was for the team._ _**What's the point of protecting your team if you can't stop them from being killed.** _ _May asked. Skye looked around at her teammates, all glaring at her, all blaming her for Jemma's death._ _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry._

* * *

"Skye!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Skye!"

"I'm sorry!"

"SKYE!"

Grant shook Skye roughly, waking her from her nightmare. Her pillow was soaked with her tears, and her eyes were puffy from her crying.

"Skye! Wake up!" When she saw Ward's concerned face, Skye thought that she had been dreaming. That she was back on the bus, and the team was waiting for her so they could start on the mission of the day.

"Ward, I've had the worst nightmare, you were with Hydra, and I let them kill Simmons." She looked around excitedly, only to be met with the dim walls of the cell around her. "Oh." Her excitement was replaced with sadness and guilt.  _She's really gone. Jemma's really gone._ She saw the sad look in Ward's eyes as he got up from where he sat on her bed.

"I'm sorry Skye. I tried to warn you." Skye thought she could detect a twinge of sadness in his voice. It didn't matter though, his apology only made her angry.

"You're sorry? We were your team! We trusted you! We cared for you! And you betrayed us!" Ward was subconsciously retreating as Skye continued to yell, "You watched Fitz get beaten! You let Jemma bleed to death!" Skye could feel her voice falter at the mention of Jemma. At that Ward exploded,

"I told you they were in danger! You're the one who let them get hurt!" Ward took a step closer to Skye. She stepped back instinctively, fear and anger causing her to shake, "You say you're protecting the team, but all you had to do was let them in! What's more important to you? The lives of your friends, or loyalty to a broken organization?" they were both breathing hard, anger filling the space between them. Suddenly Skye realized something,

"You said them."

"What?"

"Hydra. You said them, not us." Skye spoke quietly. Ward thought for a second. His features softened, and Skye thought she could recognize the man who had been her SO not so long ago. The man who would jump out of planes and blow up mountains to save the people he cared about.

"I'm not loyal to Hydra. There's this man, Garret, he's an important head of Hydra. He saved my life and I owe him everything. He brought me into Hydra, then into Shield. I only follow orders."He looked at Skye, his eyes were soft.

"And what about kidnapping us? And Fitz and Simmons? Were those part of your orders?" Skye demanded. The anger had left her. All she wanted were answers.

"I never wanted you guys to get hurt. They wanted to kill the team and leave you. I convinced Barnes to keep the team alive. I knew you wouldn't do it if the team were dead. I didn't think he would torture them to get to you."

"What about Coulson and May?Whats happening to them?" Skye asked, afraid of what he would tell her.

"They're alive."" She breathed a sigh of relief, "I've seen them. They're pretty banged up, but they're still breathing."

"Now what? I'm not going to let them access our intel." Ward gave a sad smile.

"I've got a plan to get you guys out. But its important that you follow it." Ward got close and looked at Skye straight in her eyes, "The most important thing is that you get out. Don't wait for me, or anybody else. Got it?" Skye nodded slowly. "Now this is what is going to happen..."

* * *

Skye was laying in the bed waiting for the sign that it was time to go. She kept reviewing the plan over and over in her head, thinking of all the ways it could go horribly wrong.  _Don't wait for me._ She hoped that it didn't come down to that, waiting for her team, or escaping with her life. She knew what she would choose. It was then that the cell wall moved, opening the door once again. Tentatively she poked her head out the door. The hall was empty. That was the sign. It was time to go.


	5. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye makes her escape and runs into some trouble.

Skye tentatively stuck her head out the door and looked down the hall. It was empty. It was time to go. She creeped out of the cell and took a left, following the instructions Ward had given her on how to get out. She reached the large room where they had tortured Fitz and Simmons. She avoided looking at the chair where she had witnessed her friends suffer. She pushed through and crept walked through the room to the corridor Ward had mentioned.

"I should be able to take care of the gaurds from here to the atrium, but after that, it gets a little spotty. I'm going to leave you a gun on the top of the door frame as a precaution." He paused for a moment before he continued, "Hopefully you won't have to escape with a bang."

"You mean we wont have to escape with a bang, right?" Skye asked, nervous about his wording, she may not trust the guy, but he was risking his life for her, and she didn't want to see him dead, not yet anyways. Grant gave a small smile and nodded,

"Yea, we won't have to escape with a bang." He affirmed before continuing on with his explanation of the plan.

Skye made sure the corridor was clear before she jumped up and reached for the top of the door frame. To her relief she could feel the cool touch of a pistol. She checked the magazine before she tucked it into the back of her pants. She only wanted to use it if it was absolutely necessary. Grant was right, this place echoed, one shot would alert all the guards in the compound that something was going on.

She crept down the hall, pausing for a moment when she heard the thud of boots coming closer. Looking around, all she could see was a chest further down the corridor,  _What is this? Some video game?_ She thought, as she sprinted to the chest and threw it open. To her relief there were only a few dirty rags lining the bottom. She jumped in and squeezed herself into the space, thinking how lucky it was that training had made her lose just enough baby fat so she could squeeze into the chest. Just as she closed it, she heard the voices of two guards as they came around the bend. They were talking about the recent happenings within the compund, unaware they had an escaped prisoner within feet of them.

"Can you believe that Shield Agent? She'd rather her friends die then give into General Barnes. I don't know whether she's stupid or what."

"I think it's brave, I mean, she was calling him on his bluff. She didn't think he would kill her team. Anyone willing to gamble with General Barnes should be rewarded with a medal!" The other said. Skye could hear their voices getting closer. She tensed, preparing for if the guards decided to look in the chest.

"Well she has one thing going for her. The girl's not dead." Skye almost hit her head on the top with surprise, apparently the other guard was surprised as well,

"What do you mean? I saw her bleed out with my own two eyes."

"No, you saw her go unconscious," Skye could hear the smile in the first guards voice, "As soon as we carried her out, she was off to the med bay. A few blood transfusions later, badda bing badda bang, she's good as new." He said matter of factly before adding, "Granted she may never be able to walk right again, and she's got some pretty nasty scars, but other than that, she's picture of health." The other guard didn't respond. Skye could barely hear their footsteps fading away over the sound of her own heart pounding in her chest.  _Simmon's was alive!_

"What's with the theatrics though?" She heard the second guard say,

"Barnes figured if she didn't give us the hack, she might as well feel responsible for the death of her friends. Heck he didn't even tell Garret's man Grant, he didn't want him to get too emotional."

"That's truly evil..." Their voices died off as they walked through the door. Skye burst out of the chest, breathing deeply, trying to understand everything she had overheard.  _Simmon's is alive. I have to go rescue her!_ A little voice in the back of her head brought her back to reality for a moment,  _You need to rescue yourself and the team first. Then go after Simmons._  Her first mission was to rescue the team. Skye continued to sprint down the halls, turning left and right, following the instructions Ward had laid out for her.

She reached her first obstacle, a thick wooden door, with 3 different deadlocks sealing it. If Grant was right, Coulson and May would be right behind this door. She stood on her tippy-toes, running her hand over the top of the door frame.

"The guards are lazy. Rather than carry around keys and passing them on after each shift, they sometimes just leave the keys on the door frames." Grant had explained. "More often than not you can find a key on the door frame than a key ring."

Just as they had hoped, Skye soon felt the ridges of a key, no wait, make that two. She grabbed the key's and eagerly put them in their respective locks. She could barley breath as she turned each lock. She breathed a sigh of relief as they both clicked smoothly. One lock left. She returned to her tippy toes moving her hand back and forth, searching for the third and final key. She began to feel panic rise up in her chest when she realized there was no third key. Looking around she spotted a simple little rock further down the hall.  _You're kidding me. Who's stupid enough to think hiding it under a rock would be less conspicuous._ She grabbed the rock and removed the key from under it. She inserted the last key and turned it. She then turned the nob and opened the door.

She was met with a swift kick to the chest. She flew back and hit the opposing wall. The breath was successfully knocked out of her.

"Skye?" May asked as she went to go check on the young girl, Coulson alo emerged, concern filling his face as he saw his protege lying on the floor gasping for breath. Skye nodded, unable to speak. "I'm sorry, i thought you were one of the guards. Are you okay?" Skye nodded again, grabbing May's outstretched hand. May pulled her up and Skye finally spoke,

"We need to get out of here. I tell you the way out." She began to relay the directions Ward had given her before Coulson interrupted,

"You're coming with us right?" Skye nodded,

"Yes, eventually. I have to free the others first," She skipped over her intent to bring Ward along with them, "You and May should leave now before the guards realize I'm gone." Coulson grabbed her arm firmly, fear and concern painted all over his features.

"We're not leaving without you Skye. We're a team." Skye gently pulled her arm back as she faced Coulson,

"With all due respect AC, you are. Wether you like it or not. You and I both know theres no way you're going to convince me to run with you with the rest of the team still here." She turned to May, who's face was filled with determination and concern, "Tactically, we're outnumbered and outgunned. Our best bet for survival is to sneak out of here. The longer we stand here arguing, the more likely it is they realize we've escaped, so now please just listen to me and I'll tell you how to get out." She began to relay the directions again, this time Coulson and May didn't interrupt. When she was done, Coulson grabbed her arm and pulled her in for an embrace.

"Please don't die." He whispered in her ear as she returned his hug.

"I'll see you on the other side AC." After a tender moment, they took a step back. Skye looked over at May, who gave a slight nod of encouragement. With that they parted ways, Coulson and May towards freedom, and Skye toward the belly of the beast


	6. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye moves to save Fitz, will she be able to escape?

It wasn't long before Skye reached her second obstacle. Rather than a wood door, she was met with a steel door with a number pad instead of a lock.  _The prison fits the person._ She realized,  _A prison with no back door for the hacker, a heavy door for the specialists, and a puzzle for the engineer._ She had to give props to whoever designed their prisons, they had a weird sense of humor.

"The code is tricky. It changes twice a day. The guards have a beeper that lets them know the new code." He paused and looked to Skye for reassurance, "This is the trickiest part. You need to steal one of the beepers from the guards."

"And what makes it tricky?" Grant's jaw clenched, he clearly didn't want to voice what he was thinking, "Grant, tell me what I need to do."

"The guards travel in pairs. In order to take down one you need to take down both." Skye began to interject that she could take down both but Grant stopped her, anticipating her argument, "If even one manages to sound the alarm, its all over. Speed is crucial. If given the chance, they will not hesitate to sound the alarm."

Skye took a deep breath as she brought to mind all the training she had gone through with Ward. She pressed herself against the door, waiting for the next guards to pass by. It was a while before she heard the stomping of boots, warning her of their approach. She waited as they got closer then sprang into action. She jumped in-front of them, surprising them. She used their surprise to her advantage, she acted quickly. She stepped in-front of the first one, sticking out her palm, making contact with his nose. She heard a satisfying crunch and he went to clutch his face. The other guard had begun to pull out his gun. She turned and swung out her leg, knocking the gun out of his hand. she stepped forward and slugged him in the face, and finished him off with a slam of the elbow. She turned to look at the other guard. He had gotten up off the floor. Blood gushed from his nose. Rage filled his face as he pointed his gun at her.

"Die bitch." Skye thought through the millions of ways this could end. She was about to try to attack him when she heard a gunshot. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain that came with a gunshot. It never came. She opened her eyes slowly and studied the scene before her. the guard was on the floor, blood seeping from the wound in his back. She looked up and standing down the hall, gun raised was Grant Ward. He only paused for a moment before he rushed towards her.

"The other guards would've heard that shot and should be on their way by now. We need to get Fitz and go!" He searched through the pockets of the guards while Skye took their guns. She handed one off to Ward who promptly put it in his waist, and she kept the other. He finally found the beeper and typed in the numbers into the console. The door slid open and Skye rushed in. Fitz was huddled in the corner, his face covered in bruises and cuts.

"Grant! I need your help in here!" Grant took one last look down the corridor before entering the cell. They draped each of Fitz's arms around their shoulders and lifted him to his feet. They maneuvered back out the door and started rushing down the hall, Fitz's feet dragging behind them. They could hear the distant thrumming of feet get louder, as the guards ran to find the source of the shot.

"How much farther?" Skye demanded trough clenched teeth, as they approached yet another crossroads.

"Not much farther. We just need to make it to the stairs and we're home free." He responded as they turned yet another corner. At the end of the hall there was a staircase leading up to a trapdoor. The door was wide open, allowing sunlight the stream in,  _May and Coulson got out_  They were halfway to the staircase when they heard a shot ricochet above them. Ward turned to see 4 guards shooting at them.

"Keep going! Don't forget what I told you! Don't wait for me!"

"What?!" Grant slipped out from under Fitz's arms and turned to face the guards. "Grant! What are you doing?!" Skye yelled, as she struggled to run under the weight of Fitz without the support of Grant.

"Keep. Going. Skye." He pulled out the gun from his waistband, aiming for the guards threatening his team. He popped off a few shots, hitting one of the guards. Skye could hear the sounds of the gunfight behind her and prayed to the God that she didn't believe in to let them get out safe. She finally reached the staircase and was struggling to drag Fitz up when she heard Ward cry out in pain. She looked up and saw Ward sparring off with the last of the four guards. Ward had been struck in the shoulder, but it didn't faze him. He popped off the last few rounds in his gun and the last guard went down. He rushed over to Skye and Fitz and helped Skye pull him up the rest of the way. They emerged into a field, the tree line was 100 yards away.

"Grant, you're hurt! Let me take a look!" Skye went to go check his wounds. He brushed her off.

"There's going to be more in a minute. You need to get Fitz to the tree line while I hold them off. Once you clear the tree line they can't get you." Skye shook her head, not accepting what he was insinuating,

"We can all get out. You just need to help me carry Fitz!" Grant shook his head and took out his extra gun, checking how many bullets he had.

"I'll buy you enough time. Don't wait for me."

"But - "

"Skye," He grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes, "I started this mess, I might as well finish it. Don't wait for me. Promise me you won't wait for me." He looked into her eyes, fear and sadness radiated in his dark brown eyes. Skye could not do anything but nod. Ward stod and turned back to the doors, he turned back once more before descending,

"I'm sorry Skye. I have to make this right." He turned and disappeared down the doors, gun raised.


	7. The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and the team move away from the compound.

Skye got herself under Fitz arm once again and began running as fast as she could to the tree line. Halfway there she saw a figure dart out of the woods, it was May. She quickly got under Fitz other arm and ran with Skye to the tree line. When they reached it, Phil appeared and helped them to move further into the woods. They finally reached a clearing and stopped. They lay Fitz down and took a moment to catch their breath.

"Skye. How did you get out?" Coulson asked, placing his arm on Skye's comfortingly.

"Ward." Coulson and May looked shocked, "He couldn't deal with us getting hurt. He couldn't watch Jemma die and Fitz get beaten to a pulp." Skye saw the shock and grief in their eyes and realized they didn't know about the torture. "They were trying to get me to give them a hack to our systems. When I didn't give them what they wanted, they took it out on Fitz and Jemma." She cast down her eyes, as she recounted how she thought she killed Jemma. "But she's alive and she's still down there, and so is Ward. We need to save them." She could see the wheels turn in Coulson's head as he thought about what to do next. It was several moments before any one spoke. Finally Coulson spoke, his voice soft,

"First thing we need to do is get out of here. We can't help Simmons," he paused and glanced over at May for a moment, "and Ward, with only ourselves and an incapacitated Fitz. We need to regroup and get back-up." He turned his attention back to Skye, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly, "We're not leaving them behind. We're just waiting for the right moment. We're going to need all of our strength. You understand that right?" Skye nodded. She avoided Coulson's eyes and focused on her friend lying on the floor. Coulson squeezed her shoulders reassuringly and then turned to discuss plans with May. Skye went to go check on Fitz.

His breath was ragged but he was still breathing. She sat down and carefully placed his head on her lap, stroking his curls. She studied the bruises that covered his face, and ran her fingers gently over the scabs of his cuts.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Fitz. It's all my fault." She whispered into his ear, "You are so strong, you didn't even scream. You're my hero." Fitz stirred for a moment, adjusting himself so he was more comfortable on Skye's lap and drifted off to sleep. Skye was comforted by the rhythm of his breath on her legs. Fitz was alive. The silver lining in the whole situation was that he was alive. She continued to stroke his hair as she listened to Phil and Melinda discuss strategy.

"...if I can make it to the road I can hitchhike to the nearest town, call Maria and tell them our location. Get a rescue team." May offered

"No, for all we know Hydra could be searching the roads for us, and I don't think splitting up is the best idea right now. I think the safest thing right now would be to set up camp for the night and move as a team in the morning." May agreed with his logic adding only,

"We need to keep an eye out incase they try to comb the woods for us." Phil nodded and offered the first watch, "I'll start a small fire, only dry wood. We can't risk them seeing our smoke." With that, Coulson and May split off, searching for materials to start a fire. Skye continued to monitor Fitz, checking his pulse and his breathing. She offered to help with the fire but Coulson did not hear of it.

"You've been through quite enough. Just sit back and watch Fitz. We'll take care of it." Skye agreed on the condition that Coulson would wake her when it was her turn to take watch. Darkness fell and the cold set in. They were all grateful when May was able to start the fire and provide warmth. Skye pulled Fitz closer to the fire and lay down next to him. She didn't want Fitz to leave her sight. She stared the the orange shadows that danced around the clearing as she waited for sleep to come to her. Finally she felt her eyelids grow heavy and she succumbed to the sleep that had been evading her for days.

"Skye? You said you wanted me to wake you for your shift." Phil shook her gently. Skye felt as though she slept for days. For the first time since their capture, Skye didn't have any dreams. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. May had taken a spot on the far side of the fire, facing outwards. Fitz had woken up sometime in the night and nudged himself closer the dying fire. Phil took a spot next to May and gave Skye a smile as he closed his eyes.

Soon Phil's began to snore slightly and Skye was left alone with her thoughts. She imagined Simmons in a hospital bed, attached to wires, monitoring her heartbeat. All she could think was that it was her fault Simmons was there. Granted she wasn't dead, but it still hurt Skye to think that her friends were in any sort of pain or danger because of her. She looked around at the sleeping figured of her friends and made a silent promise to herself. If they got out of there alive, and were able to rescue Simmons, and maybe Grant, she would make it her mission to never put them in that situation again. She sat warming herself next to the fire, listening to the even breaths of her team and kept vigil until dawn broke.


	8. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May goes for some food

She welcomed the suns rays on her face and went about waking up Coulson and May and finally Fitz. They sat in a circle around the fire and began discussing how they would get out.

"I say we find and follow a road to the nearest down and touch base with Maria and Tripp and then regroup to save Simmons." Coulson pitched. He rubbed his hands together, trying to get warm. "Fitz, do you think you can handle a little bit of walking?" He looked over at the engineer. He still looked battered and bruised but he had a look of determination in his eyes,

"Yes, sir!" Skye saw his wince as he adjusted his position. He quickly tried to mask his pain, trying to keep the team positive about their chance of escape. Phil also caught the wince but ignored it, knowing Fitz was soldiering on.

"Let's get our wits about us and head out then." They dispersed the fire, dusted themselves off. Skye checked on the two guns she had gotten from the compound and handed them off the Coulson and May. She trusted them to be a better shot than her if they got into a spot of trouble. May lead the way and Coulson took the rear, they set out, searching for any sign of civilization. Skye kept her focus on the specialist before her, leading them through to the unknown. Behind her she could hear Fitz's ragged breathing. Even without his injuries, Fitz's was not the most spry and athletic member of the team. She could see the relief in his face when May called for them to stop and take a break around midday.

"I'm going to look for some food." May announced as they all finally caught up to her. She checked the gun once more then disappeared off into the woods. Skye went to go sit on a flat rock and went to catch her breath. Fitz joined her and they leaned against each other for support. It comforted Skye to know that he was still alive. That the pressure she felt pushing back on her body was him. Coulson watched the pair from a little bit further away. He gave a sad smile as he watched them, leaning against each-other for comfort and support.

He couldn't imagine what they had gone through. He and May had been left in the dark, literally, the whole time. He had seen the haunted look on Skye's face when she rescued them, and he could see the guilt in her eyes whenever she looked over at Fitz when she thought nobody was looking. He wanted nothing more than to wrap them both in a warm blanket and never let them out of his sight. Unfortunately they still had a long way to go before they could be counted as safe. They needed to meet up with Maria and Tripp and save Simmons and Ward.

Ward. From the moment he revealed his true colors and knocked Coulson out at the rendezvous his animosity toward had grown. Every minute he sat in the cell with May he just imagined all the bad things he was going to do to the Hydra traitor. When he saw Skye and Fitz emerge from the compound with Ward on their trail, it took all of Phil's strength not to run out and punch Ward in the face. He watched as Ward turned back and entered the compound guns blazing. He secretly hoped that he wouldn't emerge again. But when Skye explained everything Ward had done, he could feel all his anger towards Ward dissipate. He had risked his life to ensure that Skye and Fitz had escaped. Deep down he still cared about his former team.

The team tensed up as they heard a twig crack. Coulson had his pistol out and cocked in a second, pointing to where the sound came. Skye and Fitz had stood up, Skye stepped in front of Fitz protectively, fear in her eyes. The sound of someone approaching got louder. Coulson determined that it wasn't May. She wouldn't of been so foolish as to make her entrance so loud. Coulson took a few steps forward and placed his finger on the trigger. Finally the sound reached the team, and a person stepped out, hands raised in surrender and a goofy grin on his face.

"C'mon girl. You know I wont hurt you!"

"Tripp!" Skye ran and embraced the man. Smiles plastered over both their faces. Coulson lowered his gun as he saw two more figures step out of the brush. Maria and May, both with stern faces.

"I thought you said you were getting food!" Coulson asked, allowing himself a small smile.

"I was!" May responded, hiding her smirk, "I ran into them! Well technically I ran into the gas station and called them, but its the same thing." The hugs were short lived. Tripp led the group as they walked another half hour to a clearing with a helicopter. Skye nearly cried upon seeing the Shield logo plastered onto the door. They all climbed in and the helicopter began to rise. Coulson saw the mixed emotions that crossed over the young hackers face as she looked out the window. He could see she was still thinking about Simmons and Ward trapped down in the compound. It pained him to see his protege in such a state of distress. The group didn't speak, none of them had the energy or need to yell over the whir of the rotors. They sat in tense silence until they landed on the roof of headquarters. When they touched down, they found a med team waiting to take Fitz and May to the med bay and treat them for injuries. Tripp helped Skye out of the helicopter and muttered something about a training exercise and disappeared down the stairs. Skye followed Agent Hill and Coulson down the stairs and into the briefing room.

"We've been searching for you guys for a week now. When we found the bus abandoned on the strip we assumed the worst. All of our resources, however few, have been dedicated to searching for you guys." Coulson grimaced, he had wished that their rescue hadn't taken up so many resources. Maria noticed his grimace and added, "As soon as May called we called them all off. They're back to being productive now." She smiled, trying to lighten Coulsons mood. She was met only with a sad look.

"We have to go back." Skye spoke up. Maria turned to look at her confused. Coulson explained,

"We still have an agent there, Jemma Simmons. I promised Skye we would go back for her." Maria studied the faces of the two agents. Skye had put on her best puppy dog face, and Coulson looked at her with sad eyes. She sighed, she knew there was no way they were going to back down.

"Fury's not going to like this."


	9. Moving Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons wakes up

When she opened her eyes everything hurt. Her arms, her legs, even down to her cheek. Pain radiated through every part of her body. It wasn't until she heard the clanking of the metal handcuffs as she moved her arms, she remembered what had happened. Jemma bolted upright, trying to get a sense of her surroundings. Bad idea. She thought has a wave of nausea hit her from the sudden pain in her extremities. She sat still for a moment as her head cleared and looked around

It looks like a fairly standard medical bay, it looked like one of the practice rooms they used at the academy for patient care. Unlike the practice rooms, this room appeared a bit more sinister. The walls were painted white, but one could still see the grey of the concrete seeping through. There were no windows for the sun to enter through, so the whole room was illuminated by a couple of lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, giving the room a sinister yellow glow.

Jemma looked to see how they had taken care of her own injuries. Her hand was wrapped firmly under a thick layer of gauze, each of her arms were covered in bandages where General Barnes had cut them. Her thigh was covered under even more gauze and bandages. She went to feel for the cuts on her cheek, but the handcuffs stopped her. The monitor displaying her heart rate beeped steadily at a low volume, but other than that, the room was silent. She was totally alone.

Jemma took the solitude as a chance to attempt an escape. She fiddled with the handcuffs for a moment, trying to see if they had any sort of weakness, but she came up with nothing but irritated skin around her wrists. She then focused her attention around the room, Ward had once taught her to pick locks on a variety of items, handcuffs included. Jemma searched for a tray of instruments that she could use, but to her disappointment, nothing useful was within reach.

She just about gave up and sank back down into her bed when she heart the sound of boots drawing nearer. Unsure of what exactly to do, she turned slightly and closed her eyes, pretending she was still asleep. The guards entered the room. There were several, Simmons didn't know how many but she was too afraid to open her eyes and count.

"Wake her. We have to move fast." One of the guards came closer and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shook her. Simmons opened her eyes, feigning a look of surprise. She could see by the look on General Barnes face that she wasn't entirely convincing. He looked angry. Even more so than he did when Skye refused to speak.

"Your team has escaped." She refused to react, and give the General a reason to hurt her again, "The hacker has more chops than I gave her credit for. Managed to get 2 grown adults and an incapacitated child out of the compound on her own." He was glaring at Jemma, as though it was her fault they had escaped, "You're the only one left." Jemma was confused for a moment, why had they left her here alone? Her answer came soon after.

"They think you're dead. The hacker saw all the blood and assumed." He give a snort of laughter when he saw Jemma's face pale at the realization, "You're a scientist, you know as well as anybody that people shouldn't just assume!" He emphasized the last word, spit leaving his lips. He nodded towards two of the guards and they approached Jemma. She tensed, waiting for a hit, maybe a slap. Instead they unhooked her cuffs from the bed, allowing Jemma to rub her wrists. She gave him a confused look,

"What's going on?" She asked, aware that one of the guards had procured crutches and was waiting for her to slip out of the gurney.

"Why it's obvious really!" The General responded with glee, "This compound has been compromised! I'm willing to bet my life that as of this moment, your friends are assembling a squad to dismantle this establishment and bring me into custody! So instead we're packing up and moving!"

"And what does that have to do with me?" Jemma questioned carefully. She felt like she already knew the answer. The General clapped his hands together and gave her a mad, toothy grin,

"Well why waste an opportunity when you've got one? You're one of the youngest to graduate from the academy! Nobody could've done what you did with the centipede serum, and the ICER's? We need bright young minds like you in Hydra!" Jemma could feel the disgust rising up her throat at the offer of working for Hydra.

"And if I refuse?" She heard the click of the gun before she felt in on her temple. Her mind flashed back to the last time she had been put in that position. She had seen Fitz fall to the ground hard and Skye had just come around the corner, gun aimed high. She felt as helpless then as she did now. The only difference was that this time, the team already thought she was dead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She filed through all the options that she had available to her. I could refuse and get shot, or I could accept and join Hydra. Suddenly a third option came to mind, I could accept then try to escape. Jemma opened her eyes and looked at General Barnes. She gave a small sigh and turned to accept the crutches from the guard next to her bed. General Barnes made no attempt to conceal his surprise and glee.

"Glad to have you join us Agent Simmons! You'll be a welcome addition to our research team." He clapped his hands once more then turned to leave. Jemma followed behind him slowly, adjusting to the crutches.

The General led Jemma through the compound and they soon arrived at a loading dock. Hydra agents were rushing around, loading things onto several different vehicles. Some were rushing around with papers, putting them into shredders and burning others. They were packing up and leaving. The General looked back at her to make sure she was still following nad made his way to one of the SUVs. As he approached, the door to the SUV opened and a figure stepped out. Jemma could feel anger and fear prick her skin as she recognized who it was. Ward.

Simmons followed his gaze as he first nodded to the general then focused his attention to her. For a split second Jemma could see a flash of surprise, then something else. Relief? Disappointment? She didn't have time to identify it, the moment passed and his face remained a blank canvas.

"Everything is packed up. We're ready to go when you are." Ward reported, "Radar has Shield 10 minutes away, no doubt with back-up. Its now or never sir." Th General nodded towards Ward and approached the SUV, he opened the door and gestured for Jemma to enter. She swung herself over and lifted herself into the car. She tried to make eye contact with Ward but he didn't even acknowledge she had approached. His eyes continued to scan the loading area, as it quickly began to empty. Simmons thought she could see lines of worry crease his face, but General Barnes approached the door and moved her over before she could study his face. They were soon racing away from the compound. Jemma couldn't help but look over her shoulder adn watch as the compound faded into dust. She hoped that the team would find them. Wherever they were going.


	10. Dreams and Data

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team tries to save Simmons

_Simmons was laying on the med bed, tubes running down her throat. Skye tried to reach her but a soldier blocked her. She screamed her friends name, but no sound came out. She struggled against the Soldier but he had her subdued. Skye watched in horror as General Barnes appeared out of the dark corner. His sadistic grin enveloping his features. He twirled a knife in his hand as he raised his eyebrow at Skye in the doorway._ _**Just because she's alive now doesnt mean she will be when I'm done with her!** _ _Skye screamed as he approached Jemma laying still in the bed. He looked up once more and gave her a wink before plunging the knife down._

Skye woke up screaming. Coulson rushed into her room, exhaustion and concern painted all over his face, he relaxed when he saw sitting up in bed,

"Bad dream?" Skye nodded meekly. It had been a week since they had stormed the compound where they had been held. Hydra had already cleared out. They found no sign of Jemma or Ward. Skye had been left to run the back end of the mission and monitor comms. She held back a sob when Coulson reported the compound to be abandoned. Every room had been cleared and emptied. Even the med bay had been wiped down and useless. The team had taken it as a good sign that Jemma, rather her body, hadn't been left for them to discover. It meant there was a good possibility that she was still alive.

The older agent entered the bunk and gently sat on the bed. The younger agent adjusted herself so she was sitting next to him with their feet hanging over the bed. They sat for a moment in silence. Coulson reached for the younger agents trembling hand and gently began to rub circles into the back of her hand. Skye spoke first,

"We're going to find them? Right AC?" She turned to look at her leader's face. Her eyes full or worry and fear. Coulson squeezed her hand reassuringly,

"If we have to go to the ends of the earth." He flashed her a small, reassuring smile. Skye returned her gaze back to the floor and leaned her head on the man's shoulder.

"I keep waking up at the middle of the night, thinking that its all just a nightmare. I think its all back to normal. Then I see the lab, or her empty bunk, or I see the empty training room and it all comes crashing back." Tears threatened to escape her eyes, "It kills me to see Fitz without Jemma. He looks so lost and broken. He's not the same without her. None of us are." Skye sniffled as tears began to stream down her face, "I should've just done it. I should've just given them the hack. I thought I was being strong, I didn't want to betray you guys again. If I had just done what they asked, we'd all be safe. We'd all be happy. We...we..." Her voice broke as she sobbed into Coulson's shoulder. He adjusted himself and hugged the younger hacker. Her body shook as her tears soaked the man's pajama shirt. He held her close and whispered comforting things.

Before long the young agent's sobs slowed and her breathing slowed as she fell back asleep. Coulson gently lifted her and lay her back down on the bed. He pulled the sheets over and stepped towards the door. Giving one last glance at th hacker, he closed the door nd walked back into his room, hoping that she wouldn't be plagued with nightmares for much longer.

The next day started just as the rest. The team woke up slowly and quietly before they set to work. The night before, the techs had been able to obtain data from one of the wiped discs and Fitz and Skye were poring over it, searching for any clue as to where Simmons and Ward had went. They worked in silence, occasionally one of them would exclaim they had something, but further investigation would prove each lead to be a dead end. They had exhausted almost all their resources when Skye found something weird,

"Fitz come look at this," The engineer stepped to look over at Skye's screen, squinting as he tried to interpret the information,

"Stryker labs? Why does that sound familiar?"

"Um...i think it had something to do with super-human genetics. They've been on Shield's radar for a while. They had connections with the Stark and the super soldier serum from Captain America." Skye pulled up the Shield file on Stryker labs and scanned through the reports. "Yea, they had suspected Hydra ties way back when." Fitz returned to his own computer and started typing furiously, furrowing his brows,

"The most recent report was before the fall of the Triskelion. Apparently they had a modified version of the centipede serum. They had just moved on to human trials when the reports end." Fitz pulled a video up onto the big screen. A man in military gear walked toward a line of mannequins. With one quick motion he grabbed the first one and broke off the head, he turned and drop-kicked the second one and pulled the arms off he third. He went down the line, destroying the mannequins one by one until all that was left was mannequin appendages all over the floor. The most startling thing was the rage in the soldier's eyes. Someone off camera yelled a command and the soldier stiffened in salute. The video ended and Fitz and Skye looked over at eachother nervously.

"What was the connection with the Hydra data we found?" Fitz returned his attention back to the files, his eyes flitting back and forth as he read,

"'Delivery to Styker labs completed as ordered, next delivery of subjects to be delievered Friday...' Wait a minute!" Fitz looked up from the screen and checked his watch, "That was yesterday! Hydra made a delivery yesterday! Subjects... Do you think?" He looked up at Skye, the question lingering between them.

"It's worth a shot. Let's go tell Coulson!"

"Tell me what?" The young agents jumped as Couson walked in, Skye turned and began to explain.

"We got a lead off the Hydra data, we think they had a connection with Stryker labs. They had a delivery yesterday of subjects. We think that maybe-" Coulson raised his hand to cut off Skye,

"Stryker Labs? Are you sure it was Stryker labs?" Skye looked at him questioningly. Concern painted his face as he asked again, "Are you certain it was Stryker Labs?"

"Yes, sir we're positive."Fitz answered, "Sir, what's going on?" Coulson took a deep breath and looked squarely at the young agents before he spoke.

"As of 6 hours ago, Stryker Labs no longer exist."

"WHAT?" Coulson continued, his voice remaining even as he relayed the news,

"At 0600 this morning an explosion occurred at Stryker Labs. The entire building has been destroyed. Initial reports have just come back." He paused and looked at the agents stunned faces, "Initial reports confirm. No survivors."


	11. Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened with Stryker Labs and Jemma + Ward

The lab was amazing. When she limped in, Jemma could feel her mouth drop. All the equipment she could ever dream of lined the walls and the tables. She glided her hands over the pristine microscopes and computers as she slowly explored the lab. Her excitement was dulled only by the circumstance for which she was there. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Hydra soldiers standing at the entrance, following her every move with their dark menacing eyes. They had arrived at Stryker Labs the day previously and they had placed her in a holding cell for the night.

Ward had visited her close to midnight. He approached the bars of the cell in silence. Simmons turned away from him. She couldn't look at him without resisting the urge to punch him in the face. He stood for a moment before he spoke softly,

"Jemma. Please look at me." Jemma refused to move. She didn't want Ward to see the tears that were gathering in her eyes. "Jemma, I need you to look at me. I need to explain things to you." Jemma stayed silent, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I never meant for you guys to get hurt. It hurt me to see you and Fitz in pain." A sob escaped her lips. She hadn't thought about Fitz. One of the guards in the car had joked that they had "messed with the other scientist." and that given his condition, he wouldn't of been surprised if "he talked with a lisp for the rest of his stupid life." Jemma clenched her fists so hard her knuckles were white. She bit her lip in an effort to keep herself from hitting the guard. She thought she could see Ward clench his jaw at the guards words.

"Jemma, would you please look at me? I need to tell you something important and I don't want to say it to the back of your head." No response. He gave a small sigh, "Don't worry Jemma, I'm going to make it all right." Jemma had waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared down the corridor before she let the tears flow freely down her face. She got into the furthest corner and lay down, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The next morning they woke her up and brought her to the lab so she could get a feel of where she would be working.

Jemma had finished exploring the lab when General Barnes walked in with a manila folder in hand and a few Hydra soldiers tagging along behind him.

"Agent Simmons, I see you've explored your new workspace. Is it to your liking?" Simmons didn't respond. She sat down on one of the stools, resting her injured leg. "Stryker labs has always been the leader in modern technology. This is partly due to the ingenious minds that are cultivated here. It is my hope that you help to further along the research of Stryker labs, and by association Hydra." He nodded to the lab. Other scientists had begun to wander into the room. "We look forward to seeing how you progress here Agent Simmons. Now I'll leave you to your work as I have, other business to attend to." He lifted the manila folder and placed it in front of her, he then nodded to the guards and they strode out. Jemma noticed that one of the guards remained just outside the lab, undoubtedly there to keep an eye on her and keep her from wandering. She sighed and grabbed the folder and opened it.

She grimaced as she read the file, it was the specs for an ultra-extended explosive, "for maximum damage in a 10 mile radius". She turned and began to work quietly on the weapon of mass destruction placed before her. She was unaware of Ward's presence in the room. He walked and and watched her, pain and sadness filling his gaze.

* * *

It had been 4 days since Jemma had arrived at the lab. They had moved her from the holding cell into a small bunk. It wasn't much bigger than the cell, but at least it had a bed. Ward hadn't visited her since they moved her, and she was secretly disappointed. He had claimed that he had to tell her something important, but she had refused to hear it. She couldn't help that maybe it had something to do with the team, and their efforts to find her. It seemed as though Ward had taken her actions to heart, he seemed to be avoiding her. She had seen him once in the past 4 days, when he had come up to one of her escorts and whispered furiously in his ear. He looked at her for only a moment before he stormed off back down the hall fromm which he came.

She was slow on the progress of the extended explosive, or the "S-Bomb" as the other scientists had begun to call it. Jemma tried her best to work as slowly as possible, leaving important tests to the last minute, checking and rechecking her work. She could see the frustration in General Barnes face whenever she updated him on the little progress she had made,

"Doctor Simmons, I was assured you would be able to complete this task in a small window of time. Was I misinformed about your abilities?" Simmons flinched at his biting tone, but she kept her composure. She had her arms folded behind her back and she stood straight, look at the General straight,

"Sir, my abilities are well within the parameters of completing this project, the delay is so I may be able to create an incendiary device that won't explode at first touch. I'm sure you value your fingers enough to put up with the safety checks." His eyebrows furrowed as he processed Simmon's statement. He looked as though he wanted to reprimand her for her tone, but he decided the guarantee of his fingers trumped the speed of the construction of his device. He turned and left with a huff. Jemma allowed herself a bit of a smile as she turned back to her microscope.

* * *

It wasn't until Jemma was working at the lab for almost a week when Ward attempted to talk to her again. She was just leaving the restroom when he bumped in to her. She went to apologize and move on but he grabbed her arm, stopping her. She looked up,

"Excuse me, I need to get back to work." She tried to pull out of his grip, but he was too strong. He looked over at her Hydra escorts and flicked his head for privacy,

"I'll escort her back to the lab." They nodded to him once then disappeared around the corner, leaving Jemma and Grant alone. Ward could see the fear in Jemma's eyes and realized he was hurting her arm. He let go and took a step back. She rubbed her arm and look over at Ward skeptically,

"What do you want Ward?" Grant didn't meet her eyes, he shuffled his feet and hunched his shoulder, Simmons had never seen him like that before,

"We need to talk. Somewhere private." Jemma crossed her arms defiantly,

"I'm not going anywhere private with you. I need to get back to work." He took a step closer and raised his eyes to meet hers, desperation filled his face. She took a involuntary step back as he reached out his hand gently,

"Please Jemma, I'm trying to help you. Please we need to talk." He pleaded, she could hear something in his voice that for some reason made her trust him, just a bit. She grabbed his extended hand and he lead her down the hall and into a small broom closet. She tensed at being in close quarters with the traitor specialist.

"What did you need to speak with me about?" Grants eyes flicked from the door handle to the scientist standing 2 feet infront of him.

"Skye didn't get out alone." Jemma's face turned from anger to confusion, "I couldn't stand watching you and Fitz suffer. I had to get you guys out. I helped Skye escape with Coulson May and Fitz. I gave her the exit and she took it."

"What about me?" Jemma interrupted, "Did you forget about me in that stupid med-bay? Did you just write me off as collateral damage?" Ward grabbed her wrists, trying to get her to calm down and understand,

"I thought you were dead. I had seen the blood on the chair, I saw them take your body! I didn't know you were alive until I saw you limping into the loading area." She looked into his eyes and could see that he was genuine about what he said, he really didn't know she had survived.

"Why are you telling me this now? Why so secretive?" Ward looked back at the doorknob, making sure they were still hidden and alone,

"We're getting out. Tonight Barnes has a meeting with some other Hydra officials at some other location, and he's taking a squad of Hydra soldiers with him, meaning security will be sparse. Its the perfect opportunity to escape." Simmons thought about escaping and finally reuniting with Fitz and the rest of the team. Finally all the hopelessness that had plagued her since she woke up was dissipating. She was getting out.

"We're going to need a distraction. Maybe I can mix something up in the lab, create a small explosion? I could set a delay so that I'm out of the lab when it goes off." Simmons was running through all the different chemicals she could use to create a small explosion. Ward nodded his approval,

"I can run as backup. I'll get you out of your bunk and then we'll head towards the exit while the guards are securing the lab." Simmons slowly nodded. She was thinking of all the things that could go wrong with their plan, but she didn't have time to voice them. Wards watch beeped, signaling the top of the hour. "Okay, you make the distraction and set it up for an hour after they take you to your bunk. Thats when I'll get you out. I have to take you back to the lab now." Simmons nodded and Ward opened the door slowly. He peeked out and then signaled for Simmons to walk out with him. They walked until they got close to the lab. Ward gently grabbed her wrist,

"It'll look suspicious if I treated you like a friend instead of a prisoner," he explained as they walked on. He dropped her off at the lab and he nodded at her before he walked off. Jemma quickly set back to work on the extended explosive, this time with more energy and vigor on completing the project.

* * *

Jemma wasn't kidding when she told the General her skills were more than adequate. Within a few hours she had basically built the bomb, all it was missing was a few basic chemicals. She took a break and focused on building a secndary explosive device. She had decided that she wasn't just going to escape, but she was going to bring down the whole compound as well. She allowed her mind to wander as she worked. All she could think about was reuniting with her team. She could just imagine wrapping her arms around Fitz, and seeing the smile plastered on Skye's face. She couldn't wait to see Coulson and his dorky Captain America tie he only wore when he was "take a vacation" and the little non-smile May had whenever she watched the team bicker about meaningless stuff.

Before she knew it, it was almost time for them to escort her back to her bunk. She put the finishing touches on both the smaller bomb and the S-Bomb, setting the first to detonate in an hour, the second in two. She prayed that an hour was enough time for them to escape and get far far away from the lab. She placed the small bomb in one storage and the second further away, to avoid a domino effect, when the Hydra guards entered and told her it was time to go. Jemma wrung her hands in front of her, trying to calm her nerves as she approached her room. She sat on her bed and lay down staring at the ceiling as the guards closed and locked the door behind them.

* * *

The hour inched by. Jemma began to pace back and forth in the room. She had begun to imagine all the flaws in the plan again when she hear a loud pop, and an alarm went off. The first bomb had gone off. Jemma steeled herself for the second, larger explosion, but it didn't come. She breathed a sigh of relief, the second bomb hadn't accidentally been triggered. She heard the jangle of keys on the other side of the door and heard the lock click. The door opened and Ward stuck his head in.

"Ready to go?" He asked, Jemma nodded and stepped out the door. Ward stood at the ready. He had one gun holstered on his side, and another ready in his hand, "We've got maybe an hour to get out before the guards realize we're gone."  _You're telling me!_ They ran down the halls, turning corners and running through rooms. At one point they came across a couple soldiers, but Ward dispatched them with two shots to the chest. Simmons could feel her heart racing and her leg throb as they ran further and further. The lab seemed a lot larger than she had thought initially. She hoped that an hour was long enough for them to get out. She almost let out a sob when they finally burst through a door to the outside. Her leg screamed in pain, she felt like collapsing on the grass outside, but Ward grabbed her,

"We can't stop. We need to get as far away as we can." Simmons nodded, unable to speak as she had no breath to spare. They ran away from the compound into the surrounding bush. The branches scraped at their legs and attached to their clothes, getting stuck in the material and tearing at Jemma's bandages. More than once Ward had to slow down as Simmons tried to escape from the branches. After the third time she got trapped, Grant decided it was time to stop and take a breath. He helped Jemma remove the thorns from her clothes and kept a look out as she caught her breath. Between haggard breaths Jemma spoke,

"How...far...are...we...?"

"About 6 miles. We should be safe!" Jemma tried to stand but Ward tried to relax her, "You need to catch your breath. We should be far away that they can't get to us." Jemma shook her head, trying to explain,

"I created...a second bomb..the range...10 miles... we need to get further!" Ward's eyes widened as he began to comprehend. Quickly he pulled Jemma up on her feet and threw her arm around him. He ran as fast as his legs would allow. He silently thanked Garrett for teaching him the basic escape skills as he pushed his way through the brush. The further they got, the denser the bushes got, slowing down their progress. Ward wondered how much longer they had before the bomb went off when he heard a giant boom. He stopped as a bright white light blinded them. Jemma and Wardboth had the close their eyes to avoid permanent damage. Ward could hear the beginnings of the shock-waves of the explosions and threw himself onto the ground. Jemma followed suit.

They pressed themselves flat on the ground as they could feel the vibrations of the explosion come closer. Dirt and branches flew all around them, leaves slapped them on their faces, suddenly debris came crashing down near them. Pieces of concrete, and tile and even some instruments landed. Ward groaned in pain as a piece of concrete hit him in the back. Jemma gave a squeak as a piece of tile landed inches from her side. After a few more moments, the chaos ended. Ward looked up first, making sure Jemma was okay. Then he looked back from where they came. It was an awesome sight. The trees were leaning towards them. dirt and dust covered everything. The ground was littered with debris, branches, and what looked like chunks of flesh. Ward tried not to think of that possibility as he stood up and checked himself for any injuries. He then helped up Jemma. They brushed themselves off and studied the scene before them. It was then that Jemma broke down into tears. Ward went to go comfort her, but he realized she wasn't crying from fear, but from happiness,

"We made it! We escaped and were alive! I can't believe it! We're alive!" She threw her arms around Ward, surprising the specialist. After the initial shock he wrapped his arms around the scientist, returning the hug as he surveyed the scene around them. They had survived, just barely, but they had survived.


	12. Rubble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team arrive at the blast site.

Skye stood in the middle of the explosion site. She looked out over the flattened lab and the surrounding area. Coulson had demanded the team be allowed on the site to survey the damage done. The explosion had done its job. The only thing indicating that there had been a building in all this rubble were a few inches of stone that made a perfect rectangle, along with a hatch that had led to an underground storage facility. The crews still had a few more days of digging through rubble, but they had confirmed that anyone within the 5 mile blast radius was either incinerated or blown apart, anyone within 10 had to be severely injured. They were searching for body parts.

Skye looked over at Fitz who was using one of the dwarfs to scan a chunk of metal that used to be state of the art lab equipment. He was mumbling to himself, trying to find the ignition point for the explosion. She spotted Coulson talking to one of the crew supervisors, no doubt trying to hurry along the search for anything still alive. Skye gave a little squeak when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She whirled around, only to find May, looking at her gently.

Since their escape, May had become more motherly towards the team. Besides her usual protectiveness over the youngest members of her team, she recently had taken to comforting them and keeping up their health. Whenever Skye and Fitz would stay up way too long, looking for leads, she would gently suggest they should get some rest. Then when they insisted they were fine, she would order them to go to sleep. More than once she had entered into Skye's bunk to help sooth the girl plagued by nightmares. Often she would accompany Fitz in the lab and act as his assistant, retrieving and stowing tools, inputting data and helping to analyze results. Skye figured that it was more to distract Fitz from the absence of Jemma than anything else.

"This wasn't some chance explosion." May spoke quietly, so quiet Skye had to strain her ears to hear, "I tracked down some drivers that passed by during the night, they had heard alarms blaring for at least an hour before the explosion." Coulson approached them, his face grim,

"The rescue teams have searched the 10 mile perimeter. They've come up empty. No injured scientists, not even a body."

"Aha!" Fitz exclaimed, flailing his arms, trying to get the teams attention, "I've got something you should see!" They crowded around Fitz, all trying to look over his shoulder at the tablet in his hands, "I've traced the ignition source from here. It looked like it came from some chemical device." He bent down and picked up a twisted and charred piece of metal, "From what I can tell, someone had a solution of potassium permanganate and glycerol all worked out," Fitz rolled his eyes when he saw the confused looks of his team, "when combined they create a big boom. Anyways, the glycerol wasn't added until just before the explosion." Skyes eyes lit up with understanding,

"So you're saying someone with detailed knowledge of Chemistry set-up the device?" Fitz nodded,

"Well it is, or was, a very well regarded lab, I'm sure any one of the scientists could've concocted this solution," Skye's face fell, she was hoping it wasn't just any random scientist, Fitz continued, holding out the twisted metal for them all to see, "Attached here on the top is a latch along with what I assume was a watch. Someone could easily program the hatch to open and release the glycerol on a timer." Coulson still looked a little confused,

"With an explosion this big, why is the device still intact?" Fitz furrowed his brow and looked down at the device. He scratched his head as he tried to think of a feasible reason,

"It may have to do with the ratio of the chemicals? I've read reports in which the gas escapes the device before expanding, but there are very few scientists that are capable of mixing the chemicals in such a way as for it to act that way. One of them being..." His eyes widened and a small smile appeared on his lips, "Jemma." Skye released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Simmons had set up the bomb,

"So if Simmons set up the device, it means she had an idea how to get out, right?" She asked apprehensively,

"Possibly," Fitz responded, squinting at the device, trying to see if he missed anything, "from the looks of the remains of this watch, the timer was set for an hour."

"Is that enough time to get out and get far away without getting injured?" Coulson interrupted, a plan forming in his mind,

"That depends. There are a lot of variable associated with escape, there's presence of the guards, the distance to the exit, if she was armed, if she was already injured, and most importantly, if she was alone in her escape." May stepped in, realizing Coulsons train of thought,

"What are the odds if she had help? Someone who could get her through the guards and out of the compound in 15 minutes." Skye looked at the pilots face and realization dawned on her,

"What if Ward helped her to escape?" She asked in plain terms. A smile lit up Fitz's face, answering both questions and putting the team at ease,

"Very likely." With that Coulson called over the crew supervisor and demanded they expand their search out past 10 miles. He pulled out his phone and walked off, no doubt calling HQ requesting helicopter service. May went to go find a thermal radar they could use to see in the thick under brush. Skye and Fitz packed up thier equipment and began to head back to the bus, anxious to begin the search for their lost teammates.


	13. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! The team find Simmons and Ward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter

It had been years since Jemma had fully enjoyed the sunrise. Often she would be working in the lab all through the night and would go to bed way past sunrise. As she watched the Sunrise for the first time in years, she thought back to the last time she had taken the time to sit and watch the Sunrise.

* * *

It was the night of their final exam at the academy. They had stayed up all night celebrating with a few friends, drinking a few beers, theorizing what life would be like when they got their assignments to go out into the field. Fitz had voiced his hope that his assignment would allow him a monkey assistant.

"Fitz! Why on earth would they allow you a monkey on a mission?" She had asked, Fitz looked at her incredulously,

"Why cause we could use his cute monkey hands to get into small spaces! What if we drop our keys down the side of the seat while were trying to escape in the van? He could reach down and easily grab it! He could save our lives!" Jemma had laughed at the idea of Fitz trying to get a monkey to find car keys while trying to escape from some bad guys. Fitz looked at his watch and his eyes lit up,

"It's almost sunrise!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs and onto the roof. He helped her step out the window and he gently sat down bending his knees to anchor him on the roof. He turned and gestured for Jemma to join him. She approached Fitz warily and slowly lowered herself onto the roof, mirroring his position, anchoring herself on the roof. She looked over at her partner, his eyes sparkling and his lips set into a small smile. She smiled at his enthusiasm and his optimism for the future. She turned and looked towards the horizon line, the first few rays of sunshine appearing. She moved in closer to Fitz, his presence next to her was comforting. Jemma could feel the engineers tense as she leaned her head on his shoulder. After a few moments he gave a satisfied sigh and she could feel his muscles relax. They sat together on the roof watching as light began to wash over the campus, bringing in the new day and a bright future for the two scientists.

* * *

Jemma felt Ward stir on her lap, snapping her out of her nostalgia. After the explosion, Ward had carried her a few more miles until they left the woods. They found a small field where they decided to rest. Jemma could see the fatigue in Ward's face and offered to take the first watch, she couldn't see her self sleeping with all the adrenaline runnng through her. He agreed reluctantly. She sat crossed legged and allowed Ward to use her uninjured thigh as a pillow to rest on.

While Ward slept, Jemma couldn't help but notice the change between his expression when he was a sleep when he was awake. While he was awake his expression was guarded, his eyes flicked around, always checking his surroundings, following his specialist training. Asleep, the change was almost indescribable. Jemma could see the lines of worry in his eyes, and the dark circles under his eyes. The specialist clearly had trouble sleeping.  _Thats what happens when you betray your friends._  Jemma was surprised the thought had occured. She had forgiven Ward when he had selflessly carried her away from the blast site. Ward began to stir, and for a moment, he retained the sad expression he had while he slept, but it was soon replaced by the hard, guarded expression.

"Good Morning Grant." She spoke quietly, trying to keep the atmosphere light and warm. Ward sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his face,

"Good Morning Simmons." He replied, he took in a deep breath, and scanned their surroundings, "We should get moving. We don't know if Hydra has sent anyone after us." He started to get up but was stopped by Simmons hand on his shoulder,

"If anyone survived that blast, they have more important things to worry about than a rogue specialist and a kidnapped scientist." Ward lowered himself back down, "Besides I am not in any condition to keep moving, and you are in no condition to carry me." She gestured to the torn bloody wrapping around her thigh, she saw the panic in Wards eyes when he saw the blood, "Its from the thorns. Don't worry, the wrapping is still intact, for now. I think we're safe for now. Shield's been monitoring Stryker labs for a while. There's no doubt that they're already looking into the explosion." Ward remained tense as he scanned the tree line surrounding them.

"We should at least move to closer to cover, in the event someone does come after us." Jemma gave him a hard stare,

"Grant Ward! I have not felt the sun on my skin in days! There is no way you are moving me to some dark damp corner. You can see whatever you need from right here!" Grant sighed, he knew there was no way he was going to get the scientist move. He adjusted his position so that he could have a better view of where they had come out the woods. He figured is anyone did follow them, it would be from the general direction from the site of the explosion.

Jemma moved to lay down and sleep. The excitement from the escape had finally left her and she felt as exhausted as Ward looked. They sat in silence for a while, Jemma sleeping peacefully and Ward sitting guard. Ward tensed when he heard the unmistakable hum of a helicopter. He closed his eyes, keeping his focus on the sound of the helicopter rotors. It was getting closer. He reached out and shook the sleeping scientist awake.

"We need to move. Now. Someone's coming." Jemma shook off her sleepiness and immediately lifted herself off the ground. Ward wrapped her arm around her neck and took off the opposite direction. He could hear the helicopter growing nearer. He pushed through the pain from him limbs, screaming for him to stop. He could hear the helicopter as it approached, it was over the tree line and over the field. He felt Jemma turn around to look. She gasped and immediately stopped running.

"Ward! Stop! It's okay!" Ward ignored her, dragging her along. His one mission was to get her to safety. It was the least he could do. He had to save her. "Ward! Stop! Its Shield!" he stumbled at the mention of Shield. Could it be? He stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. The helicopter had landed at the other end of field. Ward almost fell to his knees when he saw the Shield logo painted in silver on the side of the black helicopter. The door slid open and Coulson, Skye, Fitz and May spilled out. Skye squinted against the sun, trying to identify the two people holding each other up. Simmons slowly raised her hand and gave a small wave. Skye's eyes widened and she began to run toward the pair. Fitz chased after her. Ward released Simmons and moved a step away, allowing enough space for Skye to run into Simmons and embrace her.

Jemma felt the breath leave her lungs as Skye slammed into her. The hacker squeezed her into hug. Simmons let out a squeak of pain at the force of the hug. Skye immediately stepped back, looking at the scientist with concern. Fitz came up behind her, breathless from his run. He carefully approached his partner. Simmons felt the tears building in her eyes as she looked over her best friend.

"Jemma?'

"Oh Fitz!" They came together, embracing each other. Jemma ignored the pain in in her forearms and squeezed the engineer tightly, tears streamed down her face. She could hear Fitz whispering words of comfort in her ear and she felt his soothing hand moving up and down her back. She had missed him.

Skye stood back and watched the scientists reunite. She looked over at Ward. He looked terrible. He had cute and scratches all over his arms and face, and there was a layer of dirt and soot covering his skin. He was studying the scientists reunion as well. She was about to approach him when she heard Phil and May come up behind them. Skye turned and the scientists seperated to look at the older agents.

"Jemma! Its good to see your alive. We saw your work with the bomb, very impressive. I have to say, it took quite a bit of courage to believe you could get far enough in time." Jemma blushed at the leaders words. Coulson stepped forward and gave her a gentle hug, careful to avoid her bandaged hands. She smiled at his embrace. He stepped back then turned to Ward.

Ward tensed, anticipating harsh words from the team leader. Instead, the older agent stuck his hand out. Ward looked down at the hand apprehensively. He slowly raised his hand to meet it. Coulson took the hand and give it a firm shake.

"Thank you Ward. We couldn't of gotten through without you." Grant frowned,

"This wouldn't of happened without me. I was following Garrets orders. If I had warned you, if I had done something earlier, none of this would of happened." He broke the handshake and looked down to the ground.

"Grant. Look at me." The specialist hesitantly looked back up at the leader. Coulson's gaze didn't waver as he spoke, "Whatever you did to start this is in the past. What matters is what you did to fix your mistake. The moment you decided you weren't going to follow Garretts orders, thats what's important. You risked your life to save us. You saved us. Thats all that matters." Coulson could see the conflicting emotions playing across the specialists face. Skye took a step towards Ward.

"Grant. Without you, I would've never been able to get out. Who knows what they would've done to me, or the rest of the team." Ward winced. He knew what would've happened. Skye offered her hand gently, and he took it. she squeezed it reassuringly, "We're all still alive thanks to you." Coulson sighed and turned away from the specialist as he spoke,

"Now that everyone's safe there's two options for you Ward. The first: You can rejoin our group, set you back into assignments, so on and so forth. You'd have to be downgraded back a few levels, but you'd still be our specialist."

"Whats the second option?"

"You walk away. We'll write you in as a casualty of the blast. You start over. Blank slate. New name, new identity, new life." Grant ran through the options in his head. He looked at the faces of his companions. He could see the apprehension in the scientists face. Whether they wanted him to leave or join them, he wasn't sure. May's face remained blank and emotionless. Coulson gave him a small shrug. His gaze rested on the young analyst before him. He looked into Skye's big brown eyes, pleading him to stay. He winced as he remembered her sobbing on the floor after seeing her friends in pain. He felt his heart ache, seeing his rookie in so much turmoil. He couldn't imagine seeing her in so much pain again. Ward released Skye's hand.

"Thank you sir for the opportunity to rejoin your team, If I walk away you can promise I'll be scrubbed?" Coulson nodded. Skye took a step closer to him, trying to convice him to change is mind but he held up a hand to silence her, "I must decline your offer to rejoin the team." If he was happy about Wards decision, he didn't show it. He stuck out his hand for a handshake,

"It was a pleasure working with you, Grant Ward." Ward took the hand and gave it a firm shake. May approached him next, offering a firm hand. He took it gracefully nad gave it a gentle squeeze. The science duo came next. Grant offered a hand to Jemma. He was surprised when she bypassed his hand and pulled him in for a hug.

"Thank you!" She whispered quietly in his ear. He felt his chest tighten at her words. They broke apart. Fitz was next. He didn't seem too impressed with Ward but gave him a warm shake regardless,

"Thank you for saving Jemma, Ward. I owe you one." Grant nodded, giving him a small smile. Last but not least Skye. He could see the tears in her eyes as she looked into his eyes,

"You don't have to go. We can figure something out." Grant sighed, he knew it was going to be tough to convince Skye that it was good he was leaving,

"It's the best thing. A lot less red tape for everyone. Plus its been ages since I last took a vacation." The last quip made her smile. That beautiful smile. He hadn't seen it in ages. It warmed his heart knowing that it was still there. Skye stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around Wards frame. He could feel the tears fall from her face onto his shirt. He reluctantly began to pull away. Skye wiped her nose on her sleeve as she took a step back to rejoin the team. Ward stepped back and took one last look at the team. His team. They were alive, all because of him. He had finished his mission. They were safe. Safe. It was all he could do to turn and begin walking away. If he wanted them to stay safe he had to keep walking. Take away the danger that followed him. He walked on, not looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Let me know if you think I should write a follow up to the story. Thanks for reading!!!


End file.
